How to Adjust to Lower Dentures

Both upper and lower dentures take some time to get used to. They are foreign to your mouth and can make it feel like it's full, says DentureWearers.com. Dentures can also feel like they're going to fall out when you speak or eat, particularly the lower ones. Once your mouth adjusts to them, the tongue and cheek muscles will help hold them in. Upper dentures are held in place with suction against the roof of your mouth. Lower dentures, on the other hand, mainly rest on your gum. Adjusting to lower dentures can involve changes in your habits, along with some tricks.

Instructions

• 1

  Make your lower dentures feel more secure in your mouth until you adjust to them. Close your mouth and lips. Place your tongue behind your denture and gently suck on them for several seconds. This will help remove any saliva that's between the teeth and gum. It will help pull the lower denture down so it doesn't feel as loose.

• 2

  Chew small bites of food, and chew slowly when you eat. This will make it easier to eat since your lower jaw already feels like it's full. Hold hard finger foods against your top teeth. Break them off by twisting them instead of using your lower denture.

• 3

  Chew your food by moving your jaws in more up-and-down motions than back-and-forth motions. This will help prevent your lower teeth from sliding around. Chew on both sides of your mouth to keep the denture in place. Also, drink plenty of liquids while you eat to help make swallowing easier.

• 4

  Speak slower and a little more deliberately until you adjust to lower dentures. Because of the fullness and the hardness of the device, it will be harder to speak normally. Help your mouth get used to speaking with a denture by reading out loud, according to a website run by Dr. Steven R. Pohlhaus, a Linthicum, Maryland, dentist.

• 5

  Visit your dentist on a regular basis to have your lower dentures adjusted so they fit correctly. As time passes, your lower gum will shrink. Your lower jaw will also change shape. This will make your denture fit looser than it did when you first got it. Your dentist will need to adjust it.